Tamworth High School partners with Big Picture Academy, offering mainstream alternative from next year

The Big Picture Academy will begin in term one, with 36 students selected from grades 7, 8 and 9.

Principal Keith Leyshon said it was difficult to know where to start when explaining how different the program is to mainstream learning.

To begin with there are no timetables, multiple subjects, classroom changes or different teachers. Pupils will learn in small groups with an 'advisory' teacher.

Every student will have their own learning space and personalised learning plans, which Mr Leyshon believes will guide them down the path of their preferred career.

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"All the learning will be geared around their learning, or their passion, so you may have someone that's interested in being a bricklayer, mechanic, you can have people that are interested in being a physio or doctor," he said.

"All of their schooling is based around that, so at the start of every term parents come in and are actively involved in the progress.

"The advisers guide the students in ensuring they are still gaining all the necessary skills they would normally gain from different faculty areas across the school."

While Mr Leyshon said there is absolutely nothing wrong with the mainstream schooling most students will be going through, this is just a different option and something he has experience with.

While working at Morrisett High School in 2015 he saw the Big Picture program in action and believed it worked wonders, which is why he was so keen to jump on the opportunity in Tamworth.

"I know it's a success, I've got a billion different stories, so much so that I've got my own daughter who is a physio who came through the Big Picture program," he said.

"I've still got my own son, who's in year 10, who is doing aeronautical engineering as part of his big picture program.

"So I'm not someone who's just experimenting on other people's kids here, I'm actually working with my own kids who are doing this as part of their education."

Students who completed the program also receive an accreditation called the International Big Picture Learning Credential, which is accepted by many tertiary education businesses around the country, including the University of New England and University of Newcastle.

Applications for the program can be found on the Tamworth High School website and must be completed by November 12.

Mr Leyshon said while he would mostly be looking to included students from his own school, applications could be submitted from around the region.

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